What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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4 WHAT'S UP! FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 6, 2021 COVER STORY Another championship object on display was deployed in an amateur sport. It's the homemade vehicle that Magnolia native Wally Waits raced to victory in the 1960 Arkansas State Soap Box Derby. He finished eighth in the national derby in Akron, Ohio. A green-and-white quilt crafted by Thelma "Tut" Olevia Franklin is a recent museum acquisition that evokes the popular former exhibit "A Piece of My Soul: Quilts by Black Arkansans." Franklin quilted regularly at Marvell's Community Development Center before her death in 2016. An exhibit postcard from the 1920s pictures the building that for more than a half-century was Little Rock's top hotel. The tallest downtown building when it opened in 1907, the Marion was a 500-room grand hotel sometimes called "the other state capitol" because so many off-the-cuff political meetings took place there. The building, on the site now occupied by the Little Rock Marriott, was imploded in 1980. Permanent exhibits on the second floor of the Old State House Museum take visitors back to construction of the former state Capitol from 1833 to 1842. Designed in Greek Revival style, it housed Arkansas' first General Assembly in 1836 as building work continued. The 1836 House of Representatives Chamber is outfitted with replicas of the candlelit desks used by the first legislators. On one wall, an American flag with 25 stars marks the number of states at that time. In 1885, the House and Senate switched chambers, with the House moving to the larger Senate space across the way. That setup continued until both bodies moved to the present state Capitol in 1911. Large illustrated panels in the 1885 House chamber chronicle legislative activity from the beginning until 1919. The tumult that sometimes ensued is reflected in such panel titles as "Territorial Arkansas: The Politics of Personality, 1819-1836," "The Politics of Race, Slavery and Civil War, 1836-1861," "From Redemption to the Populist Revolt, 1874-1890," and "The Coming of Jim Crow, 1890-1897." Also on the second floor, "First Ladies of Arkansas: Women of Their Times" features inaugural gowns and other artifacts from governors' wives. A series of illustrated panels describes the public roles — ceremonial and substantial — played by first ladies since World War II. Janet Huckabee's State House Continued From Page 3 FAQ 'Down The Rabbit Hole' WHEN — 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues- day-Saturday through 2021 WHERE — Old State House Museum, 300 W. Markham St. in Little Rock COST — Free INFO — oldstatehouse.com or 501-324-9685 Magnolia's Wally Waits won the 1960 Arkansas State Soap Box Derby in this racer, which is currently featured at the Old State House Museum in an exhibit of odd artifacts titled "Down The Rabbit Hole." (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Jack Schnedler) Replica desks displayed at the Old State House Museum evoke the first session of the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1836. (Special to the Democrat- Gazette/Jack Schnedler) gown makes it evident that she is probably the tallest governor's wife in Natural State history. Along with "Down the Rabbit Hole," the Old State House Museum's first floor has galleries detailing the checkered history of the structure, during and after its role as the seat of government. Before becoming a museum in 1947 and gaining distinction as a National Historic Landmark in 1997, the building housed a number of government agencies. It was occupied by the Arkansas School of Medical Sciences and functioned as the first headquarters of the Arkansas State Police. Fresh exhibits like "Down the Rabbit Hole" keep the oldest state Capitol building west of the Mississippi River worth revisiting. Jack Schnedler writes a regular feature for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on sightseeing in Arkansas.